A Smart, Wall-Mounted Desk That Hides Your Work In A Flash

Raw Edges builds a wall-mounted box that folds out into a desk with double the writing space.

As apartment-dwelling New Yorkers, we’re always on the hunt for clever furnishing designs that optimize small spaces. This time, we bring you the DeskBox, which is exactly as it sounds: a wall-mounted box that extends into a full-size writing surface.

The compact DeskBox is the handiwork of Yael Mer and Shay Akalay, a young Israeli duo who founded their London-based studio Raw Edges shortly after graduating from the Royal College of Art. Last year, they pitched a similar concept to the Dutch manufacturer Arco: a bread box with a hinge mechanism inspired by those found on sewing-machine boxes. "Arco used to produce these kind of traditional wooden sewing boxes more than 100 years ago," Akalay tells Co.Design. "We took the same mechanism and applied it toward more of an up-to-date use."

The desk version is made from a combination of metal, for the wall base, and wood, for a warm work surface. "We wanted to make it as light-looking as possible and also to have the cost as low as possible, so the DeskBox will not only end up on magazine pages but at people’s homes," Akalay says. But that didn’t mean scrapping the details. When the desk is closed, it still provides ample space for writing notes, with a small hole for a single-pencil holder; when open, it features two compartments and a cutout for routing electrical wires. Akalay assures us that it can withstand the weight of a laptop and a few books. "I guess there would be a limit, but there won’t be any problem for any normal use … of a desk."